As I sit here in Palm Bay, Florida, between training sessions on a leap day, I have a lot of mixed emotions as I think of Neil. People often say that when considering a loss. They also often speculate as to how the deceased would have wanted things. Frankly, I didn’t know Neil well enough to draw accurate conclusions on what he may or may not have wanted me to do right now. However, I knew Neil well enough to know that he had a very unique perspective on the world.

Neil attended more fitness offerings at the Center than I ever could have expected. In the heart of winter, he would be at Community Fitness or out on the ski trails as we practiced around him. In the middle of the summer, he would be an avid attendee of Community Rowing. For his age, Neil was an astonishingly eager student always trying new challenges or activities even if it meant attempting pull-ups with a resistance band after not doing pull-ups for years. I guess one thing I know Neil would want right now is more coaching. No matter what realm we were in, he wanted the most informative coaching I could offer. It was almost to the point that it was off-putting to people how sternly he would request input on what he was doing. I could also be certain that Neil would attempt anything he did to the fullest of his capabilities. He would only stop his work for the buzz of the clock, and if he didn’t hear that (which happened), then you had to grab the weights from him.

What some people might not have known about Neil is that he was a very successful and distinguished journalist. Not many could have guessed from his crew neck sweatshirt, hiked up athletic socks, and his hand frequently cupped to his ear that he had traveled the far reaches of the globe to cover stories and experiences that many of us have only read about in works similar to his if not his. I was also fortunate enough to be one degree of separation from an individual who received a very, well-written poem from Neil, a poem that he spontaneously wrote to champion Craftsburian life when moved by a local holiday concert. That is not something everyone takes the time to do. Moreover, that is not something everyone has the ability to do to such a brilliant degree. Here is one more recent sample of his writing that is naturally pertinent:

Once, Neil took me up in his plane, a 2-seater Cessna, pictured below.

I am not built for small places. I’m also not built as flexibly physically or mentally as I’d like to be. I was still thrilled to go up in the air with Neil and cover terrain that I knew so thoroughly from one perspective but not from this one. Flying was another area of Neil’s constant quest to learn. As I look at this plane, sure, I remember getting airsick and worrying about how the landing was going to go as I recalled the humble athletic lessons Neil and I worked on during Community Fitness and elsewhere at the Center. At the same time, I just keep coming back to the thought of how such a learned person managed to be such an open student. In the areas where I was the teacher (weights, erging, rowing, stretching, etc.), Neil saw me as an expert for better or worse and somehow confidently trusted me to steer him in the right direction. Not many people have the humility to put his or her experience, seniority, and wisdom on the shelf even if his or her expertise is in a peripheral field.

I realize that the communities of Craftsbury, the Outdoor Center, and the Green Racing Project extend far beyond the geographical location. At the same time, it is from this geographical heart that we form our foundation and identity. Another member of the community took the time to share news of Neil’s passing with me while I’m miles away and for that I am grateful as I am for many other gifts from our neck of the woods. In my limited years of knowing Neil (just four), I can easily recognize what an exceptional human being he was. I am thankful for the opportunity to meet him, coach him, and in turn, learn a new perspective from him. He will be greatly missed by me and undoubtedly many others. For starters, I will make the most of this extra day, this leap day.

The Craftsbury Outdoor Center as seen from Neil Ulman’s Cessna.

]]>Premature Migrationhttp://greenracingproject.com/blog/7428/premature-migration/
Fri, 11 Dec 2015 01:23:01 +0000http://greenracingproject.com/blog/?p=7428Birds of a feather flock together, and so the rowers flew south for a spell. Unfortunately, it sounds like we didn’t really run from the harshest of winters, but it has still been a worthwhile training camp so far. While we wish all of our northern, Nordic skiing friends loads of snow, we needed some time on the race course in Sarasota, FL. I’ll dish a bunch of words, and hopefully, a teammate will follow up with a bunch of pictures.

You see the 2016 Olympic trials happen in April for many rowing events. We usually have a race in April, but it is of less immediate consequence than this one. As such, having it take place at the usual venue in West Windsor, NJ, is alright despite the possibility of rougher weather. This year (like the last Olympic cycle) we need a venue that will be rowable beyond a doubt. Additionally, the course in Sarasota will be the future site of the 2017 World Championships. For all these reasons, we needed some exposure.

On top of this, while many of us relish our time cross-training on skis, this year is a critical year. For some of us, it is our first go around and for others it may be our last. I personally don’t want to leave anything to question and want to make sure that there are no wishful adjustments in hindsight. I think the camp is benefiting everyone. It is simply a two week camp, but already feels very thorough and fruitful. For those in team boats, they’re getting an extended and/or earlier start on building rhythm and chemistry. For me, I’m making up for lost time this fall between a torn hamstring and pneumonia (more on that at my personal blog if you can handle my absolute candidness). It may be too hot in Vermont for this time of year, but it is still quite refreshing being down here in 70-80 degree weather. Although hotter temps require some additional cardiovascular and cooling work from your body, it makes limbering up substantially easier.

We have two houses in a subdivision that is between two rowing venues. One called Fort Hamer offers longer distances on tidal, brackish water, while the other, Nathan Benderson Park, is the future site of both our Olympic trials and the 2017 FISA World Championships. The Benderson course has 10 buoyed lanes right now, which is naturally good for practice. People at both sites have been incredibly hospitable. As we near our first weekend and the halfway point, we hope to make the second half as productive as the first.

]]>Manual Springhttp://greenracingproject.com/blog/6962/manual-spring/
Thu, 19 Mar 2015 20:50:35 +0000http://greenracingproject.com/blog/?p=6962For the third year, we GRP Rowers have disappeared from Craftsbury. It’s not that we’re afraid of the two more months of winter we still might face in our homeland. Rather, it’s dictated by the fact that we’re a liquid based sport that really starts up in April. In order for us to be ready to go at the first National selection regattas of the year, we need to head south in search of unfrozen waters. We’ll try to write off our lack of posting on how confused our biological clocks are by manually switching seasons.

Our team is a little different looking this year. We have 2 open weight women, 3 lightweight men, and now 8 heavyweight men. I would say this shift was both partly coincidental and purposeful. Various people moved on to the wide, fruitful, green pastures of life, while others found new locations for their pursuit of rowing. At the same time, as the Olympics near, we’ve specialized a bit more in heavyweight men as it may be where we can have a greater impact. Only mention this because we have new faces and a new approach.

The new team coupled with a change to selection procedures this year has turned our time in Clemson from being predominantly in singles to more of a team boat selection process. I’ll curb my personal opinions on all this for now, but will at least say that I think last year was very productive for our boat moving skills.

Clemson like any home away from home has its pros and cons (or deltas if you’ve recently gone to business school). Here’s a perk:

The weight room at Clemson is unbelievable. Each year, it has been updated and upgraded. What was once a simple Gatorade buffet has expanded to smoothies, Pro Bars, Stinger Waffles, and much more.

Anyways, the pros are things like: 2 buoyed race courses, gracious access to the weight room, enough to do to not go totally crazy but not enough to be too entertained or distracted, a VERY hospitable host team, plenty of vacation rentals, and a nearby Smoothie King. The cons from my point of view are few but important. While there’s a lot of available water here, it is water that is frequently not that conducive to rowing. You face these issues most places. If you want miles and miles to row on, they typically won’t be reserved for rowers. However, compared to other places I have trained I think there are more pleasure boaters, bass fishers, and unprotected winds on this body of water.

I’m not going to lie though, we’ve had a couple 80 degree days already. Don’t worry though, today was not one of them. 40s and rainy. We’re broken down into the 2 houses we had rented last year. Most of us are paired with people we don’t live with back home, so we get to cook with some fresh faces around us. There’s a group of lightweight athletes from Boston training here as well that include our alumnus Josh Ka-nez-knee (or rather Konieczny). Unfortunately, we haven’t intermingled with them that much as our schedules seem a bit different in focus and emphasis. Some of our lightweights have tangoed with them from time to time though. For the next four days, we have former Danish lightweight rower and coach Thomas Poulsen, staying with us. Hope to pick his brain, but he is spread across a pretty large group here with us and the lightweight camp. Additionally, we should have a surprise visit from the one and only Troy Howell tonight as he drops off a new double for us on his way to spring training with Middlebury College, where he is coaching this spring.

]]>On the Bosbaanhttp://greenracingproject.com/blog/6085/on-the-bosbaan/
Mon, 25 Aug 2014 09:25:28 +0000http://greenracingproject.com/blog/?p=6085Per usual, apologies for the lack of communication. Boys will be boys though, and with the addition of some racing, long distance communication grows a little scarcer.

We’re here though, settled, and adjusted. Practices went well, but still had the same typical arch of improving with time in a new environment. The entire US team stays at one hotel. It’s a huge place about 10-15 minutes to the course by bus and 20 by foot. The Australian, Czech, and Canadian teams are also sharing the hotel with us in addition to many innocent bystanders, who like to ask me why my forearms are the way they are. We received a decent boat from Filippi with carbon, stern wings that are more comparable to our aluminum stern wings that we row at home. That being said, our boat needed to have some nose work done as it seemed to have undergone a repair at some point. Dan managed to get the boat set up with relative ease over the first couple days.

The Bosbaan is an interesting body of water. The prevailing wind is a tailwind that hits the course at a slight angle. Being the first ever manmade rowing course, they didn’t have all the kinks worked out (not that they do now), and speed varies from lane to lane based on the direction of the wind. In other senses though, I love the course. It is just 8 lanes wide and barely over 2000m long. It has flags marking every 250m that go across the width of the course. It feels like a giant swimming pool to me in a good way. The weather has been cold, windy, and rainy. There have been spots and moments of nice weather, but with the way the wind is moving everything moves in and out quite quickly. They have a saying in Amsterdam, “if you don’t like the weather, wait one minute (and it will change) but certainly don’t wait two (cause it will change again).” Just kidding, no one says that. Our first few days on the course were loud in terms of weather, but quiet in terms of boats with only a few nations present like Argentina, Japan, and eventually China. That quickly changes though as people pour in the days leading up to racing. You do your best to fit your workouts in and stay focused even though it feels like an arena for bumper boats. As I said though, our rows got more and more comfortable and confident as the jetlag wore off and the new routine ensued.

With 20 boats entered, as you can see below, this is a heavily subscribed field this World Championships. While Lucerne was also relatively competitive and full, you have the addition of crews like China, Russia, and the Ukraine, which all put forth fast quads.

Our heat did not go the way we wanted it. We knew Russia and China would be fast, but we also assumed a little too much about ourselves going into the race. We wanted to approach the fast and bouncy conditions of the Bosbaan with relaxation, precision, and composure. We did that. It’s not that that was a bad call or decision. However, it needed to be coupled with the same kind of tenacious racing we used in Lucerne to assert ourselves and find our place amongst fast crews. As a result of our third place finish, we now head to the Repechage, an opportunity to get into the A/B semifinal. 8 crews were selected for the A/B semis out of the heats, while the last four spots will be comprised of the top two boats from two repechages.

Although the new World Rowing website is a little sleeker, it’s not always that easy to follow. All races will have live audio coverage, and video may start by the semis. To review results, the best, easiest, and most thorough way is to go here. You then select the boat class you want to review (we’re in the Quadruple Sculls), and then you have access to everything results and start list oriented.

If you haven’t seen it yet, I posted a video with footage from Craftsbury, Princeton, and the Bosbaan on YouTube. Take a look:

]]>“Eleven. Exactly. One louder.”http://greenracingproject.com/blog/5899/eleven-exactly-one-louder/
Thu, 10 Jul 2014 07:47:35 +0000http://greenracingproject.com/blog/?p=5899Well, the M4x is alive and well and thinking of Spinal Tap as we have left England for Switzerland.

While there’s plenty to relate about the upcoming World Cup in Lucerne, I’ll start by giving you a quick crash course about our Henley trip. The main point of going to the Royal Henley Regatta was to be over here and away from home for longer in an effort to be more acclimated, prepared, and ready for the World Cup. While we wound up having only one race at Henley, it was a valuable and important one against the GB squad’s quad that won the second World Cup.

The flight over went well. Oars and all.

Love that the cokes which say Jim and Phil in the states say “Mum” over here. Let me tell you though, 3 meter long cases that are lime green turn some heads.

We started to settle in to the regatta quickly with some rigging, some eating, some sleeping. All of them in more than ample amounts. At Henley, a massive chunk of the competitors rent rooms from locals as there are not many hotels in town. It’s a unique setup that works for the regatta. We sweetened the deal with some syrup and GRP hats.

We kept make adjustments to the boat as the week went by and got some quality rows in before Dan showed up to put the final touches on the Friday before our race. I have to say racing on Saturday at Henley is a pretty crazy experience. The course is a little longer than 2k. It’s about 2112 meters. Every meter packed with spectators. Although the regatta has a lot of fanfare that even within our boat has varying degrees of worth, stacking up against the GB quad to jumpstart our engine was very worthwhile. Here’s a quick recap from my personal blog:

the Brits were on average almost 2 stones heavier than us per person (28lbs). that’s a huge difference. we had the favorable lane (berks). i think it’s favor at the start is debatable with any amount of wind, but it is a help at the finish where the river bends and the part of the course you’re on has the inside of the bend. off the start, we were neck and neck through most of the island (roughly the first 200m). i would say our start was decent, but didn’t seem like our ultimate. it was actually when we settled though that we started moving on them, which is great to see and feel. i mean the fact that we didn’t move on them by simply out-rating them is a great thing. we were ahead by the first major mark, the barrier, which is a little over 500 into the race. i’d love to give you times, but got no time right now. we went very similar speeds for all the marks to thos ethat we did in practice, which is interesting. between the barrier and foley, we feel that we got more length than ever was reported. i believe we were up at least half a boat during this chunk of the race. however, just before foley, they started to move and closed the gap some by that major mark. our main error in this race was the fact that we didn’t react more to their move. they were loud, deliberate, and seemed almost anxious about their move. we should have countered with confidence. after foley, which is around halfway sort of, they pulled ahead of us. we stayed in contact and shortly after the 1 mile mark we started to sprint. it was a decent sprint and all of us were yanking on it, but it just wasn’t enough to catch them even in the better lane. we closed back and finished just half a length down. we came rather close to the booms several times, but definitely during the sprint. that steering probably cost us a little bit. we just needed to sprint the whole last 500m at like a 40, or so a few people think and i agree to a degree.

A lot of people enjoyed watching the race and have talked about it since. Even so, all we want to do is keep the speed coming in the races to come.

Speaking of the fanfare, it was kind of neat that it was the 175th anniversary.

Here’s some footage of our race:

]]>Update on the GRP Heavieshttp://greenracingproject.com/blog/5869/update-on-the-grp-heavies/
Tue, 24 Jun 2014 14:23:30 +0000http://greenracingproject.com/blog/?p=5869Here’s a quick update from the GRP’s most buoyant.

In April, like our rowing teammates, we raced the first National Selection Regatta (ie NSRI) in singles in the Open Mens Single (ie M1x). I managed to win that race. In May, also like our teammates, we competed in NSRII in the Open Mens Double (ie M2x). John and Ben locked up the ‘W’ at this regatta. Now, it’s important to know that while the regattas are called Selection Regattas, this is more of a preliminary selection. In certain events like the pair, it might simply be a nomination to a selection camp for a boat that is not open to trialing. In other cases like our events, which are in fact trials boats, winning the regatta allows you to travel to one of the World Cup races in an attempt to lock down the boat as yours. Basically, if you place sixth or better at one of the World Cups, the boat will not go to trials and will be yours at World Championships that year. If you manage to place fourth or better, then not only do you get to represent the USA in that boat class at Worlds but you also get some funding from USRowing (a feat recently accomplished by our teammate Josh and his boatmate Austin Meyer).

The reason I mention this is many people have inquired when Ben, John, and I are headed off to a World Cup in our respective small boats. While this still may be in the cards, the four of us heavyweights at Craftsbury decided to spend our time in the quad (M4x) for the past month and change. We have a gorgeous boat and four skilled scullers, so we put 2 and 2 together and made a 4x. While a substantial US contingent is overseas right now having just competed in the second World Cup in Aiguebellete, France, we are down in Princeton, NJ, preparing to race the quad in trials tomorrow.

]]>Clemson’s Grrrrrrreathttp://greenracingproject.com/blog/5578/clemsons-grrrrrrreat/
Tue, 11 Mar 2014 20:03:49 +0000http://greenracingproject.com/blog/?p=5578The months are allegedly the spring ones, and as such, the rowers have taken to traveling south to force the issue. We’ve arrived safe and sound in Clemson, SC. Thankfully, all managed to get here by the designated time on Sunday without any tragic stories.

The timing of our arrival was quite serendipitous as the weather had just broken to yield a handful of 60-70 degree days, making the manual seasonal transition seem all the more dramatic. While we were all anxious for this change and getting back on the water, we will without doubt miss the winter that marches on up North.

A bon voyage card from my catamount buddy, William.

A lot of things quickly came to a head as we tried to dot as many i’s and cross as many t’s as possible before heading out. We had our closing Catamount practices (well, for us at least), which I unfortunately missed to drop my pup off in Maine. We finished off some projects like grooming drags and began new ones like beekeeping. We also attempted to cram a lot of physiological things into our last week like some all out erg testing, typical ski races, and a VO2 step test. Each of us had our ups and downs as we took care of our responsibilities in all departments, but are safely south, focused, and refreshed in the new environment.

Currently, we’re three rows into our stay here. Hands have reddened, but bodies have taken to the liquid form of water without too many surprises. Like last year, the rhythm, balance, and coordination of skiing somehow manages to cultivate or at least maintain the biological channels we harness for rowing. Additionally, while I find value in both types of ergometers produced by ConceptII right now, additional time spent on a dynamic erg has made the catch position feel more natural and tolerable in my boat. The slight downward slope to the tracks, the lower shoe placement in my boat, and the spreading of the hands all make the boat seem like a more comfortable place (in some senses) which is a great sensation to have.

Team Canada boats lined up above where we store ours. They leave today.

Talk about seasonal transitions. Sprinter rolls into a dusty, dry parking lot after crossing miles of tundra.

Sunset on Sunday. Day one.

]]>Head of the Charles RECAPhttp://greenracingproject.com/blog/5023/head-of-the-charles-recap/
Wed, 23 Oct 2013 12:23:40 +0000http://greenracingproject.com/blog/?p=5023So the Head of the Charles (HOCR) is everything and nothing for an aspiring elite rower. It is nothing in the sense that it is inconsequential in relation to our national team selection process. It is everything in that it is probably the highest profile domestic regatta we have. As Jamie’s previous post pointed out, it can be a very happy time for rowers. Being such a large regatta, it winds up being a see and be seen event where you can’t travel very far without crossing paths with another friend from within the cult we’ve grown to love called rowing.

The Charles is a challenging course and a race where almost anything can happen. Personally, I’ve had a lot of luck in the past decade of racing there in various boats, but did not fair so fortunate this time around. That being said, as a whole, the GRP squad did a great job at the race with a ton of people racing the single in this challenging regatta for the first time.

To see how everyone did in their respective events, just click here. In the end, it was a solid weekend. Racers on Saturday were luckier than those on Sunday in terms of wind, but the whole weekend was about as good as Charles weather can get!

Now, to top it off, here’s some quick soundbites from each of us on the weekend:

Phil Grisdela – The Charles is always a fun race, even when there’s a ripping headwind in some parts of the course others can be completely flat and all the turns keep you on your toes. We knew it was going to be a bit of a rodeo going in with those conditions so the trick was to be flexible and concentrate on bringing speed even when the boat is a bit rocky.

Emily Dreissigacker – I felt like I did a good job of keeping my focus within my own boat, but I think I almost paced myself too much. I wish I had gone after it a little more a little sooner.

Hugh McAdam – Despite the strong head wind on Sunday, my race went very well. I handled the wind and conditions well, and though the result isn’t exactly what I was hoping for, I’m happy with the result and look forward to improving upon it next year.

Kyle Lafferty – Racing at the Charles is always fun. It was a fun event and a good precursor to our next race in Princeton in a couple weeks.

Elizabeth Sonshine – I had a great time coming down the charles for the first time in a single. Luckily, my race was relatively uneventful and I’m excited to have the opportunity to return next year with a better bow number!

Lynn Jennings – Fitness, strength and speed are not enough at HOCR – steering and mental execution matter! I’ll be back next year to mix it up!

John Graves – Solid piece with decent steering, happy about the way I competed, but a little bummed to not have squeezed a few seconds out of it to be ahead of Mahe.

Peter Graves – We rowed hard but came up 0.18 seconds short of 1st place in the champ 4. Should have had another helping of Brussels spouts the night before, which was ultimately the difference. The gentlemen farmers from Wisconsin really brought their A game.

Ben Dann – This being my first time racing in the Champ Single at HOCR, I really enjoyed the thrill of being in the driver’s seat. There is no other course or event that presents a sculler with the same test of speed and mental acuity. It is the formula 1 race of rowing.

Keziah Beall – It was both fun and challenging to get back into an 8+ and sweep for the first time in a while, and it was a great race that was not won easily. My favorite part of the HOCR, however, is always the energy that surrounds the event, because of the thousands of people that are all there to represent, to race, and to celebrate.

Maggie Fellows – It was very exciting to be in a race with so many big names! My race was not quite as successful as I would have hoped, but I can’t wait for next year to give it another shot. It was definitely a great learning experience and an inspiration to row with some of the fastest female single scullers in the world.

Phil Henson – The racing at HOCR can be unpredictable and things may not always work out in your favor, but every time it is a lot of fun. Congrats to all the other GRP racers, especially first timers!

Jamie Chapman – First sculling races at HOCR! At times during the 1x race I focused too much on pulling and not enough on steering, but it was incredibly cool to line up alongside some of the world’s best. Sunday morning I raced in a throw-together Director’s Challenge 4x of Dartmouth alumnae and found a fast and fun rhythm to cap off some great racing at HOCR this year.

Steve Whelpley – The point is moot, but no comment.

]]>Ride the Lightninghttp://greenracingproject.com/blog/4732/ride-the-lightning/
Thu, 29 Aug 2013 10:37:02 +0000http://greenracingproject.com/blog/?p=4732As John already mentioned, it turned into a stormy afternoon here in Chungju. Dan and I have been speculating that the meteorological technology in this part of the world may not be quite what it is stateside. Sure, the weatherman may not actually be able to predict the weather in the states either, but at least he acts like he knows what it will do hour by hour. Here, it said it was raining and thunderstorming all day. Fortunately for racing, it held off for most of the morning…

…until I had to race. 45 minutes before my race the thunder was sounding pretty treacherous, and the lighter clouds were being exchanged for darker ones. Even so, crews kept launching. My race was the last of the day. It was clear that they wanted to get every race run. I launched and had a pretty solid warm-up on the water, considering the amount of thunder and lightning I was witnessing.

Fortunately, I was lane 5 and the closest to shore, so I’d at least be saved. But seriously, as the weather rolled in so did changing winds and having the lane closest to shore is probably the best one to have. The winds here have been quite temperamental and gusty. They rarely feel like the type of gusts you have stateside that suddenly pick up and push you around on the water. Instead, they just drift in and out without any major interference, but still with a significant effect on boat speed. The shore lanes stand the best chance of being slightly more protected. Additionally, despite being a straight course, it’s orientation to the geography makes for changing winds. In this race, I had a tailwind in the second 500 and a headwind in the last 500. Honest.

I had a decent start, and having studied the fields prior races, I knew I would/could get out ahead. The game plan was to get out ahead and stay out ahead, allowing me to meter my efforts accordingly for qualification to the C final. At the same time, at this level, you never know what people will do, so I had to make certain to not rest on my laurels. That being said, winning this piece didn’t mean everything, so I wasn’t going to go ballistic. The race pretty much played out in an ideal fashion, and as expected, the Korean boat tried to put on a show for his home audience at the end, so I squeezed off some extra pressure at the line to lead the whole piece and win.

Afterwards, the regatta suddenly acknowledged the impending doom that was the weather and told everyone but the rowers on the water to head for safety. Though, it seemed like a smart idea to head in after a short cool down.

Big day tomorrow with my final and the doubles semi. Should be better weather!